'Slumdog' vs. 'Button'

While a polite, darling and completely accommodating Peninsula employee named Scott found a power cord for our laptop -- bless you, dear sir, we're sure you're not getting paid to crawl around the floor of the Veranda Room for our benefit -- we pondered the "Slumdog Millionaire" vs. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" conundrum.

We didn't really see it as a conundrum until tonight.

Now that the power's back on -- huzzah! -- we'll wax on for just a bit about this. (Please realize we've hit the slider bar a couple times during our "break" and the Peninsula barkeeps are awfully generous with their pours).

We've had some indication, even before Thursday at the "Critics Choice Awards," that the tide had turned. Critics have all loved it. No surprise there. So did we. Momentum is a powerful thing, and "Slumdog" seems to be the movie with all the good will. It was, after all, in danger of languishing in distribution purgatory until Fox Searchlight rescued it. It is, in itself, a story of triumph over adversity. It's charming, it's sweet, it's tragic, it's violent, it's ultimately life affirming.

Is it Oscar?

No one would be happier than your resident Gold Rusher to see Danny Boyle, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel, A. H. Rahman and the rest doing a Bollywood victory dance on the stage of the Kodak next month. Will it happen? 

Or will the rather stolid Academy pick the more "American" film and give "Benjamin Button" the top prize. Thoughts? Anybody?